Gaming Naturally is more Fun Together: the Influence of
Controller Type on Player Experience
Vero Vanden Abeele
Brian J. Gajadhar
Bob De Schutter
e-Media Lab –
Eindhoven Univ. of Technology,
Human -Technology Interaction
P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven,
the Netherlands
e-Media Lab –
Groep T Hogeschool Leuven
Affiliate with CUO
Vesaliusstraat 13
3000 Leuven, Belgium
+32 16 30 10 30
vero.vanden.abeele@groept.be
Groep T Hogeschool Leuven
phone: +31 40 2475810
Affiliate with CMC
Vesaliusstraat 13
3000 Leuven, Belgium
+32 16 30 10 30
B.J.Gajadhar@tue.nl
bob.de.schutter@groept.be
IPO building, Room 0.15
ABSTRACT
Gaming via natural mapping has proved immensely popular,
exploiting a direct relation between the physical actions of the
gamer and the virtual response within the game world. Most
research on the player experience of gaming via natural mapping
has been done in a solo-setting. In this paper, we investigate the
benefits of gaming via natural mapping in a social setting of colocated co-players. Via a combination of an experimental design
and laddering interviews (n=84), we study the player experience
of a classic controller versus a steering wheel controller when
playing in dyads. Results are in line with solo-setting studies,
supporting the hypothesis that gaming via natural mapping
augments spatial presence. Furthermore, the results suggest that
gaming via natural mapping is preferred when social fun is the
highest motivation for users to engage in. However, when users
are in a highly competitive setting, the traditional controller is
preferred since it provides users with more control.
Categories and Subject Descriptors
H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and presentation]: User
Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6) – Input devices and strategies,
Interaction styles, Evaluation/Methodology.
General Terms
Measurement, Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Theory
Keywords
Natural mapping, spatial presence, social presence, player
experience, experimental design, laddering, GEQ, SPGQ.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the past years, there has been a surge in game controllers that
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allow players to play in a more natural way. Sales figures of the
Nintendo Wii game console and its WiiMote, and similar game
controller devices such as guitars (e.g. Guitar Hero), camera’s
(EyeToy), bongos (e.g. Donkey Konga), dance mats (e.g. Dance
Dance Revolution), etc. are impressive. The shift from singlebutton joy sticks to a variety of these new type of controllers
provides a clear example of how digital gaming has changed over
a short period of time. What these controller devices and related
games have in common is that they offer a more natural way of
controlling the game, i.e. they exploit a direct relation between the
physical actions of the gamer and the virtual response within the
game world. A player that swings a bat in the real world, swings
his virtual bat as well. This similarity between the movements of
controls in the virtual & real world and the result in both worlds,
is defined as natural mapping [16:23]. Natural mapping takes
advantage of physical analogies between the gamer in the real
world and the actions within the virtual mediated world.
Some researchers have studied the potential of gaming via natural
mapping, addressing the opportunities for an altered player
experience, e.g. Skalski, Tamborini & Shelton [21] manipulated
the type of controller - either a steering wheel, gamepad, joystick
or keyboard- playing a racing game. Their results show that more
natural mapping - rated by participants as higher perceived
controller naturalness - leads to increased spatial presence and
higher game enjoyment. For instance, using a steering wheel to
control a race car was found to be more fun and to provide more
spatial presence, as compared to using the other controllers.
Spatial presence refers to the sense of ‘being there’ or the degree
of being physically located in the virtual environment, resulting in
feelings of immersion and involvement [23]. Yet, surprisingly,
Skalski et al. did not find support for the hypothesis that it is
spatial presence predicts game enjoyment.
Similar to Skalski et al., Bianchi-Berthouze and colleagues
[1,2,3,10] conducted a series of experiments to investigate how
natural mapping - by using body movements - creates engagement
in digital game play. In their experiments participants played
Guitar Hero with either a guitar-shaped controller or with a
classic game pad. Their results revealed that again that
participants playing with the guitar controller reported higher
game engagement and a higher feeling of presence in the digital
world.
Both the experiments of Bianchi-Berthouze et a. and of Skalski et
al. lend support to the hypothesis that natural mapping augments
spatial presence and possibly game enjoyment.
Johnson et al. [8] studied the appeal of natural mapping as well,
again via an experiment where players were given the opportunity
to play a game with a standard controller and a physically
controlled device (respectively a gun or a surf board). Johnson et
al. found that physical controllers are not always preferred. In the
case of the surf board controller, males and more experienced
users consistently preferred the standard controller for offering
more control, while females and less experienced users were more
equivocal in their ratings. From a qualitative study of post hoc
interviews, four major themes appeared regarding playing with
these controllers that exploit natural mapping: ease of control, the
amount of fun, the inherent intuitiveness of the controller and the
degree of realism engendered by the controller. Interestingly,
qualitative and quantitative findings indicated that physically
controlled peripherals consistently lead to fun on the part of the
user, even when lacking ease of control.
Regarding the lack in ease of control, Vanden Abeele et al. [25]
came to similar conclusions. In their experiment they compared
playing a game with either a standard keyboard or an controller in
the shape of a cuddly toy. Manipulations with the cuddly toy were
directly mapped onto avatar animations in the game world.
Results demonstrated that preschoolers preferred the keyboard
over the cuddly toy interface because of a lack of control. In this
case, gaming via natural mapping did not increase the usability
nor the likeability of playing the game.
The studies of Johnson et al. and Vanden Abeele et al show mixed
result regarding natural mapping and game enjoyment and suggest
that the lack of control might hamper the preference for a game
controller that exploits natural mapping.
To conclude, the above researchers show different results with
respect to gaming via natural mapping and player experience.
These differences may be explained by the different controllers
that offer different qualities of natural mapping. Skalski et al.
relied upon a steering wheel controller [21], Bianchi- Berthouze
et al. [3] on a guitar shaped controller, Vanden Abeele et al.
[25].used a cuddly toy interface and Johnson et al. [8] used a surf
board and a gun. However, differences in results might also be
explained by the different operationalizations (and dependent
measurement tools) for player experience, respectively as game
enjoyment [21], game engagement [3], or likeability [25].
Additionally, the study of Johnson points towards the player
experience of controllers that exploit natural mapping as multidimensional and offering different concepts such as fun, realism,
intuitiveness and control.
2. PLAYER EXPERIENCE &
CONTROLLERS
2.1.1 Multi-dimensional construct
According to Gajadhar, de Kort & IIsselsteijn [18], player
experience should be subdivided into player involvement and
player enjoyment. Player involvement describes a player’s focus
and interest during digital play in terms of flow, immersion and
engagement while player enjoyment refers to the amount of
pleasure relying upon concepts such as positive affect,
competence, challenge, and frustration. Ijsselstein, de Kort &
Poels developed the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) to
evaluate the player experience along seven subscales, namely
Positive, Negative Affect, Flow, Sensory Immersion, Frustration,
Challenge and Competence. In most literature however, player
enjoyment and involvement are treated as a single dimension. For
instance Skalski et al. measured game enjoyment as a unidimensional construct asking participants to indicate to which
extend they agreed to questions such as: “This was a fun game”.
Similarly, Vanden Abeele et al. treated likeability as a unidimensional construct. Yet, the studies of Ijsseltein et al. [6,18]
and Johnson et al.[8] demonstrate that the player experience
should be treated as a multi-dimensional construct.
2.1.2 Social play
Furthermore, the studies above were conducted in a single-player
configuration. However, recent studies by Gajadhar, de Kort &
IJsselsteijn [6] revealed that playing digital games with co-located
co-players is rated more positively than playing against a
computer, and playing together in the same room with a person is
favored over playing online against the same person over a
distance. In line with their results, Mandryk and Inkpen [15]
demonstrated the difference in physiological response of the body
between playing against a computer and playing against a friend;
the presence of a friend results in higher engagement. Similar with
these, Ravaja et al. [19] demonstrated that compared to playing
against a computer, playing against another human elicited higher
engagement, as well as more positively valenced emotional
responses. These combined results indicate that co-located game
play significantly adds to the game experience.
By using controllers based on natural mapping - thus making use
of body movements - the visibility of the player actions even
increases the opportunity for others to monitor actions,
performance and emotions. Dalsgaard & Hansen [5] emphasize
that playing games and using highly visible physical player
actions transforms gamers into performers/spectators alike. De
Kort and IJsselsteijn [11] advocate that these ‘sociality
characteristics’ are highly important in gaming and may be crucial
when playing games that are controlled on the basis of natural
mapping. It therefore is likely to assume that gaming via natural
mapping, as compared to gaming via traditional controllers, will
affect game enjoyment & involvement by the social presence the feeling of being with others [22]- of co-players even more.
Few researchers have experimented with gaming via natural
mapping within a social context. In one of the few studies that
covered social gaming & natural mapping [14], dyads played a
game via Donkey Konga bongos and via a standard controller.
Results showed that playing with bongos was more engaging, and
social interaction between players was significantly higher. Yet, in
a similar setting a follow up study [4] was carried with more
game-experienced, male participants playing Dragon Ball Z with
the WiiMote. Interestingly, results did not support those of the
previous experiment by Lindley et al. Based on self-reports, no
significant differences between player engagement were found
between the condition with body movement and without. Should
these contradicting results be attributed to a difference in gender
or due to a different controller? Or due to a different measurement
og game enjoyment or social interaction? Clearly, further research
efforts remain necessary.
3. AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY
4.1.1 Participants
As discussed, in most player experience studies, player enjoyment
& involvement are treated as a uni-dimensional construct.
Furthermore, empirical results regarding the benefits of gaming
via natural mapping within a social setting are scarce and yield
conflicting results. We therefore decide to build upon the
experiment of Skalski et al. [21] and refine their experiment by
measuring player experience in a comprehensive way in a highly
social setting. By including a thorough qualitative study to the
experimental results, we aim to study the influence of controller
type - on the basis of natural mapping - on player experience in a
social setting.
84 participants volunteered to participate in the experiment. They
were approached on the university campus. To avoid an
overrepresentation of male, computer savvy, game loving players,
female students were actively encouraged to participate as well.
This resulted in a diverse group of participants with 44 men and
40 women and 43 dyads (21 male-male dyads, 19 female dyads,
and 3 mixed gender dyads, the data of two participants was lost).
First of all it is supposed that the similar results will be found as
in Skalski et al.[21], supporting the hypothesis that gaming via
natural mapping augments spatial presence. Second, it is expected
that gaming via natural mapping will - besides spatial presence induce more social presence as well than when playing with the
classic controller. Third, we hypothesize that playing via natural
mapping will be rated as more positive. However, it is expected
that by the used of a comprehensive measurement tool (GEQ),
results will give a better view on which components of enjoyment
and involvement are responsible for this increase in a positive
feeling. To further our understanding of the differences in
enjoyment, induced by the type of game controller, we conduct
post-hoc interview to ask player to explain their preference for
either one controller.
To summarize, building upon the experiment of Skalski et al., we
aim to verify the following hypotheses:
4.1.2 Experimental manipulations
Participants entered as pairs and competed against each other in a
racing game. They played the game Mario Kart Wii, a racing
game developed by Nintendo. The game comes with the Wii
Wheel accessory, which is designed to house the Wii Remote to
allow for steering via natural mapping. Yet the game was
originally designed for playing with a classic game controller and
still allows players to choose their preferred mode of controlling.
All participants were assigned to play the game in both
conditions. In both conditions participants sat in a love seat,
approximately 90 cm from each other in front of a Plasma
Television screen of 50 inches diagonal. All sessions were
recorded by a video camera. The order of the condition (i.e. the
order of which controller was played with) was counterbalanced
to rule out order effects.
After each condition a questionnaire was filled out. The researcher
made sure to leave the room once the game was started. After
having completed both conditions and the questionnaires,
participants were invited for a laddering interview.
H1. When gaming via natural mapping, players will experience
more spatial presence than when playing with the classic
controller.
H2. When gaming via natural mapping, players will experience
more social presence than when playing with the classic
controller.
H3. When gaming via natural mapping players will experience
differences in game enjoyment
RQ. Which differences in gaming via different controllers explain
the differences in game enjoyment.
Since research [4,14] suggests that differences in gender groups
can be found and since this also became apparent in our pilot, we
decided to control for gender of dyad in the main experiment.
4. METHOD
4.1 Experimental design
To address the research questions and hypotheses above, we
conducted an experiment in which self-reports were combined
with laddering interviews. An (2 x 3) experimental design was
employed with Controller Type (Classic Control vs. Steering
Wheel) as within-subjects factor, and Gender of Dyad (Female vs.
Male vs. Mixed) as a between-subjects factor. The experiment
took place at the e-Media Lab of Group T- Leuven Engineering
College. Participants were told that the researchers wanted to
understand the player experience..
Figure 1: Research set up.
4.2.1 Self reports
Spatial presence was measured via selected items from the ITCSOPI questionnaire [13]. Ten items were taken from Spatial
Presence factor. They were translated into Dutch and were, where
necessary, slightly adapted to a gaming experience, Cronbach's
Alpha is first listed for classic controller, then for steering wheel:
.903-.926
Social presence was measured by the Social Presence in Game
Questionnaire [33], consisting of three subscales, Cronbach's
Alpha is first listed for classic controller, then for steering wheel:
Psychological Involvement-Empathy.764-.815, Psychological
Involvement-Negative Feelings .592-.698 and Behavioral
Engagement .885-.917
Player experience was measured as a multidimensional construct
by the Game Experience Questionnaire [32]. It consists of seven
subscales, Cronbach's Alpha is first listed for the classic
controller, then for the steering wheel: Positive Affect .860 - .770,
Negative Affect .679 - .513, Flow .906 - .903, Sensory Immersion
.863 - .851, Frustration .775 - .817, Challenge .596 -.648 and
Competence .944-.916
Perceived controller naturalness was measured via three items,
such as “The way I could operate the game felt natural, The
action I had to undertake to control the game were similar to the
actions in the real world.” The range of Cronbach's Alpha is first
listed for classic controller, then for steering wheel: .531-.781
Perceived control was measured via five items such as “I had a
lot of control over the game input device, the game reacted
exactly to my actions as I wanted” All items were measured on a
five-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
The range of Cronbach's Alpha is first listed for classic controller,
then for steering wheel: .768-.808
Demographic data was collected as well (e.g. familiarity with coplayer, age, player performance, prior game experience and
gender).
4.2.2 Post-hoc interviews: Laddering
The post-hoc interviews were administered according to a
laddering procedure. Laddering’ is both a specific depth
interviewing technique and a procedure for data analysis [24].The
goal of laddering is to understand how users translate the
attributes of a product into meaningful associations with the ‘self’,
relying on Means-End Theory [7,17]. The goal of laddering
interviews is to extract means end chains, or to understand how
product attributes (A) have certain consequences (C) or benefits
for the user and align with personal values (V).
As for this interview procedure, after playing with both controllers
the interviewee was first prompted to identify his preferred
controller. Next, the interviewer tried to reveal the underlying
reason for that choice, by asking interviewee: “What is this
choice based upon?” followed by “Why is this important to
you?”. In other words, the: interviewee was asked to motivate
his/her attribute selection by explaining the related anticipated and
favored consequences. This way, the reasons (consequences) why
certain attributes were important were revealed, followed by an
expression of how these consequences serve personal values.
5. RESULTS
Linear Mixed Model Analysis (LMMA) was performed on the
self report data – for each perceived control, perceived controller
naturalness, spatial presence, social presence and player
experience component –, with Gender of Dyad as between
subjects and Controller Type as within subjects factor. Since
participants played in dyads – and dyadic data is dependent –
intra-class correlations were analyzed. Because correlations were
non-significant it was decided not to use dyadic data analysis [9].
Laddering interviews were transcribed and axial coding was used
for arriving at core concepts for attributes, consequences and
values. Individual ladders were decomposed and reassembled into
dominant means-end chains. These chains were reconstructed at
the aggregate level, based on the number of direct and indirect
links to relations to other elements in the ladders, relying on
specific cut-off values that yield dominant perceptual orientations.
Detailing the step-by-step process that was involved in this
laddering study, is beyond the scope of this paper, but is
according to the procedure in [20] and described in more detail in
[24].
5.1 Self-reports
5.1.1 Perceived control & controller naturalness
Figure 1 presents the scores on the perceived control and the
perceived controller naturalness scale for Controller Type. The
analysis revealed a significant trend for Controller Type on both
perceived control (F(1,81) = 8.93; p<.01) and perceived controller
naturalness (F(1,81) = 22.02; p<.001).
4
Perceived_Control
Perceived_Controller_Naturalness
3
Experience
4.2 Measurement instruments
2
1
0
Classic Control
Steering Wheel
Controller Type
Figure 1: Experience of perceived control and perceived
controller naturalness as a function of Controller Type (0 = not at
all, 4 = extremely; SE indicated in graph).
Participants indicated to perceive the classic controller as more
controllable (MCLASSIC = 3.5 (0.1)) than the steering wheel
(MSTEER = 2.8 (0.1)). However, controlling the game with the
steering wheel (MSTEER = 2.9 (0.1)) was perceived as more natural
than with the classic controller (MCLASSIC = 2.2 (0.1)).
5.1.2 Spatial & Social Presence
4
SPGQ_Ps_Inv_Empathy
ITCSOPI_SpatialPresence
4
Player Experience
Figure 2 presents the score on the presence scale for ITCSOPISpatial Presence (ITCSOPI-SP) and SPGQ-Psychological
Involvement Empathy (SPGQ-PIE). There is a small but
significant difference in Controller Type on ITCSOPI-SP (F(1,81)
= 10.69; p<.01) and on SPGQ-PIE (F(1,81) = 8.72; p<.01). A
steering wheel (MSTEER = 2.5 (0.1)) induces a higher sense of
spatial presence than a classic controller (MCLASSIC = 2.3 (0.1)).
Similarly, playing with the steering wheel (MSTEER = 2.0 (0.1))
leads to higher experience of SPGQ-PIE than playing with a
classic controller (MCLASSIC = 1.8 (0.1)). No significant effects
were found for other social presence subscales.
GEQ_Flow
GEQ_Competence
GEQ_Challenge
GEQ_Frustration
3
2
1
0
Classic Control
Steering Wheel
Controller Type
Presence
3
Figure 3: Intensity of player experience as a function of
Controller Type (0 = not at all, 4 = extremely; SE indicated in
graph).
2
5.1.4 Gender of Dyad effects
Figure 4 shows (marginal) significant main effects for Gender of
Dyad on SPGQ-PIN (F(2,81) = 3.36; p<.04), SPGQ-PIE (F(2,81)
= 12.19; p<.001), GEQ-Competence (F(2,81) = 11.59; p<.001),
GEQ-Positive Affect (F(2,81) = 2.70; p<.08), and perceived
control (F(2,81) = 3.99; p<.03).
1
0
Classic Control
Steering Wheel
Controller Type
Figure 2: Intensity of spatial and social presence as a function of
Controller Type (0 = not at all, 4 = extremely; SE indicated in
graph).
5.1.3 Player experience
Figure 3 shows a main effect of Controller Type on GEQCompetence (F(1,81) = 6.92; p<.01), GEQ-Challenge (F(1,81) =
4.02; p<.05), GEQ-Flow (F(1,81) = 5.75; p<.02) and GEQFrustration (F(1,81) = 4.00; p<.05). Participants felt more
competent with the classic controller (MCLASSIC = 1.7 (0.2)) than
with the steering wheel (MSTEER = 1.4 (0.2)). They experienced
less challenge with a classic controller (MCLASSIC = 1.2 (0.2)) than
with a steering wheel (MSTEER = 1.5 (0.2)). They furthermore
indicated to experience slightly more flow when a classic
controller (MCLASSIC = 2.1 (0.2)) than when a steering wheel
(MSTEER = 2.0 (0.2)) was used. Similar as the decrease in
competence and flow, players also reported less frustration with
the steering wheel (MSTEER = 0.3 (0.1)) than with the classic
controller (MCLASSIC = 0.4 (0.1)). No significant effects were
found for other GEQ subscale (positive affect, negative affect and
sensory immersion).
Figure 4: Intensity of experience as a function of Gender (0 = not
at all, 4 = extremely; SE indicated in graph).
Within the mixed (M = 1.3 (0.3)) and male (M = 1.2 (0.2)) groups
far more negative feelings were experienced toward the co-players
than in the female groups (M = 0.8 (0.1)). However, in the mixed
groups (M = 2.6 (0.1)) a bit more empathy was felt for the coplayer than in female groups (M = 2.1 (0.1)) and far more
empathy than when only men are playing (M = 1.6 (0.1)).
Furthermore, participants in male groups (M = 2.0 (0.1)) felt more
competent than those in female (M = 1.1 (0.1)) or mixed (M = 1.2
(0.2)) groups, and more fun was experienced by participants in
mixed (M = 3.3 (0.1)) groups than in male (M = 2.7 (0.1)) or
female (M = 2.7 (0.1)) groups. Also more control over the game
was perceived by participants in mixed gender (M = 3.7 (0.2))
groups than in male (M = 3.2 (0.1)) or female (M = 2.9 (0.1))
groups.
Additionally, the analysis revealed (marginal) significant
interaction effects for Controller Type with Gender of Dyad on
perceived controller naturalness (F(2,81) = 3.77; p<.03), SPGQPIN (F(2,81) = 3.10; p<.06), and GEQ-Challenge (F(2,81) =
2.45; p<.10).
5.2 Laddering
132 ladders were decomposed in an implication matrix to chart
how often a core concept was linked directly or indirectly to
another core concept. From this implication matrix, a hierarchical
value map (HVM) was constructed, which maps dominant meansend chains between controller types, associated attributes,
consequences or benefits and values (figure 8). From this HVM,
the dominant perceptual orientations can be derived. Results from
the HVM demonstrate that attributes, benefits, and values which
define preferences, are fundamentally different for the different
type of controllers.
The means-end chains for a Classic Controller provide the
concrete attribute of ‘similarity with other game controllers’,
which links to the abstract attribute ‘precision’, and the functional
consequences ‘offering more control’ and ‘having more
experience’. Both are linked to ‘ease’ and result in the psychosocial consequences of yielding ‘a better performance’ and finally
are linked to the value of ‘being the best’.
For the Steering Wheel, more diverse chains are derived from the
laddering analysis. The dominant perceptual orientation
demonstrates that the concrete attribute of ‘body movement’ gives
way to abstract attributes such as ‘funny’, ‘novel’, ‘real or
natural’ and ‘less precise’. Interestingly, the benefit of ‘being less
precise’ and ‘less control’ which makes playing the game
‘harder’, results in ‘being equally good’ and in ‘laughing and
having a good time’, and finally supports the value of ‘being
social’.
Figure 5 - The hierarchical value maps dominant means-end
chains between controller types, associated attributes,
consequences or benefits and values.
6. DISCUSSION
6.1 Player experience and Presence
In line with Skalski et al. [21], analyses revealed that - also in
social settings - playing via the steering wheel augments
perceived controller naturalness. Yet, as suggested by Johnson et
al. [8] and Vanden Abeele et al [25], playing via the steering
wheel does not augment perceived control. In fact, based on selfreports and laddering interviews, we may conclude that gaming
via the steering wheel decreases perceived control.
Furthermore, our results reveal that social gaming via natural
mapping augments spatial presence, in line with [21,3]. Players
reported significantly more spatial presence when playing with the
steering wheel than when playing with the classic controller.
Additionally, it was expected that playing via natural mapping
would induce more social presence as well, than when playing
with the classic controller. In line with [6] results show only a
slight increase in social presence for psychological involvementempathy.
We demonstrate that enjoyment is sensitive to controller type, also
in a social setting. However, our results also reveal which
components of enjoyment are influenced: competence, challenge,
flow and frustration. In general, the differences in controller type
were small, nevertheless players felt more competent with the
classic controller and experienced more flow and less challenge,
yet more frustration. The decrease in competence and flow and
increase in challenge with the steering wheel may be a result of
the decrease of participants' perceived control. Strangely, playing
with the steering wheel induces less frustration. We believe that
frustration here can be equated with hard fun. Lazarro [12]
explains that it is perfectly imaginable that a gamer that expresses
deep frustration during game play shouting “I hate it, I hate it, I
hate it” in the end gives the game a positive rating [12]. In this
case frustration might also be an indication of hard fun or
involvement in the game.
6.2 Gender of dyad effects
Since the pilot showed differences in gender, it was decided to
control for this in the main experiment. For gender of dyad, far
less negative feelings toward their co-players were experienced by
participants in mixed groups when steering wheels were used then
when the classic controller was used. Similar, mixed dyads show
more empathy for the co-players than female dyads, which again
show more empathy for their co-players than their male dyads
when playing with the steering wheel. Interestingly, in mixed
dyads more positive affect and perceived control was experienced
than in the other groups; also less competence was experienced.
These findings suggest that playing in a mixed gender group is
different than playing in a male or female group.
Little research has been done on the effect of mixed dyads on the
experience of game play. Anderson et al. [36] report on the
distinct influences of female observers versus male observers on
male players, which seem to be consistent with stereotypic gender
roles. They found female observers to offer a nurturing presence
on males in mixed gender dyads, while male observers seem to be
a competitive presence on males during video game play. In our
research we did not have observers but fellow players. However
as Dalsgaard & Hansen [26] point out, in the case of gaming via
natural mapping, we are all simultaneously observers and
performers.
We therefore cautiously suggest that similar effects might be at
work in the present study. Male dyads tend to be oriented more
towards competition and value ‘being the best’. These motivation
reinforces the importance of higher (perceived) control and
resulting competence. In mixed dyads, the presence of a female
player/observer, the competitive nature changes and this
motivation for being the best no longer holds true for players.
Instead, the ‘being social’ motivation is perhaps reinforced.
Indeed social presence is highest in mixed dyads as well as game
enjoyment.
8. LIMITATIONS
As a final note, the authors realize the same experiment with other
controllers offering natural mapping and/or other games, may
induce other results. We recommend to elaborate further on our
results, regarding other controllers and games. Furthermore, we
acknowledge the small number of mixed dyads. Due to this small
sample size significance in interaction effects (gender of dyad &
controller type) were not reached, although they seem plausible
considering some (non-included) results. To reduce the standard
error, we recommend enlarging the sample size in future research
to verify this result.
6.3 Social fun
Our quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that players
preferring a classic controller may be driven more by a desire to
win the game (hard fun) while playing via natural mapping
supports having fun and being social (social fun) [12]. When
playing to win, control becomes a key issue, and players benefit
less from gaming via the steering wheel.
9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This finding also indicates that the different types of motivation
for playing are not to be seen as stable traits within individuals, as
one player can change his motivation for play depending on the
situational (social) context. Male players within mixed dyads
switch from a more achieving game play mode to a more social
game play mode. This is supported by the results from the
laddering interviews. The same players often mentioned both
values (being social or being the best), explaining that they could
not really choose one over the other. However, they indicated that
their decision would depend on the social context. When playing
alone they would prefer the classic controller; when playing with
friends the steering wheel would be preferred. The benefits of the
gaming via natural mapping (such as less control, novelty, and
humor) seem to suggest opting for ‘social’ game play, rather than
playing to win. It is remarkable that less control and precision is
actually reported as a benefit. According to the laddering
interviews, less control ensures that players are equally good, and
brings social fun into the game.
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Support from
acknowledged.
Games@Large
project
is
gratefully
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7. CONCLUSION
Playing digital games can be performed solo or with others. Since
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